For my dearest friend
by Ichigo to Hana
Summary: "What is the worst that could happen if something goes wrong this time?", Angelina demanded to know. "Minor explosions, maybe some toxic elements spreading inside the mansion and well, or I could destroy gravitation in a smaller area." Artemis answered. "What are you working on!" "Like I already confirmed, I am working on Holly's present."


AN:  
After some technical difficulties I am finally able to upload a new story for our Christmas project. I still do not own Artemis Fowl, however I do own Arty´s latest invention (just do not tell him)

Like always, we have a riddle for you at the end, if you know the answer send us a PN, so no one can cheat ;)

 **for my dearest friend**

Artemis was staring at the screen of his computer, his entire attention focused on the newest project. _Just a few more test and simulations, then I can be certain that everything is working according to my plan. I cannot fail this time, I_ __ _already had to rethink and change a lot of details three times. I am running out of time!_ His hands flew over his keyboard. The light of the screen illuminated his face with bright bluish glow, making it even paler than it used to be. A growling sound came from his stomach, reminding him that he needed to leave his room at least for a short period of time. With a sigh, he saved his current files and pushed the chair away from the desk. His legs and feet protested, as he stood up after a long time of sitting still. Running a hand through his hair, a new and annoying habit of his, as it destroyed his neatly combed hairstyle, he opened the curtains, letting the daylight fill his study. Artemis´ eyes ached at the new brightness, but he nevertheless forced himself to look outside.

Outside, the sun only shone weakly above the horizon, its rays barely warming the air. _That is the point of winter. The nature needs to refill its energy resources; cold weather and a short day are required. Humans do not have to say anything in that matter, we just have to endure it, there is no point in complaining about the temperature._ He smiled a little, though it did not reach his eyes. _Nature is so much more powerful than mankind will ever be. How foolish of us to try to suppress natural procedures and its laws._ This time he had to smirk. _Fighting against the laws of physics. How foolish must one be._ He looked at his desk. _That's exactly what I am doing right now._

A knock could be heard at the door. "Artemis, dinner is ready", Juliet´s voice cheered on the other side. "Don´t miss it out!"  
"I am coming", he replied, turning away from the window. With a last glance at his already closed work, he left the room, following the older girl downstairs into the kitchen. The hallway was decorated with all kinds of Christmas ornaments, including a gigantic Christmas tree at the middle of the staircase. Angelina even had insisted on hanging up some mistletoes, which the teenager carefully avoided. Juliet had caught him once, still laughing each time she saw one of those in the house, as she remembered his shocked face. She hadn´t even done anything except from pointing it out to him and grinning. The poor boy was probably traumatized for weeks.

His parents as well as his little brothers already had taken a seat as they arrived. Butler stood at the stove, filling some bowls with hot tomato soup. Artemis sat down next to his father, who was focused on his newspaper.

"It seems as if everybody only remembers to buy Christmas gifts a month before the event. Here, look, they wrote about a huge chaos in the city centre and some traffic jams too. I´m just glad we life outside of this whole mess."  
"Now dear", Angelina said. "Put away the newspaper, we want to eat. Arty finally made it out of his room, we have to seize the chance to do at least something together." The teenager looked into his tomato soup. It was creamy with fresh spices and basil. Butler even added some of those crunchy bread pieces, which names he could never remember, much to his irritation. _I can solve extremely complex mathematic problems without a calculator, yet I can´t remember something that simple._

"Say Artemis, do you plan anything special for Christmas?", Butler interrupted his thoughts. He had taken a seat between him and Juliet, facing him with concern and curiosity. It was nice that all members of the household ate together, which included the Fowls as well as the Butlers. "I thought mother had everything already settled. I do not wish to interfere with her plans, as it is indeed a holyday of family."

His mother let out a sigh. "You are always so formal. Losing up a bit would not hurt you. Anyway, I would not have any problem if you decided to do something with your friends too." Artemis closed his eyes. _Friends? The only persons I like and care about are here right now, or under the surface. I am certain Holly would be busy around the holiday, and Foaly would never leave his safe bubble with all his technology. And me going underground? I guess that would be not the best idea, as I am not exactly popular among them either. Though there is still something I need to get into Haven City._ His mind started to wander off towards his study, where his most recent project still remained.

"Hey Arty, you're spacing out again." He blinked. Juliet winked at him, waving a small mistletoe in front of his face, which made the boy flinch. The girl laughed, but stopped at the stern expression of her older brother. "You were thinking about your favorite female elf again, weren't you?" Artemis Fowl the first and his wife stopped eating and looked at him, even his little siblings eyed him with great interest. "You could invite her over, you know", Angelina stated with a soft smile. As an answer, he shook his head. "That is impossible mother. Holly has to work and even if she was free, I am sure it would be quite difficult for her to come over. The rules of the fairy folk are very strict, even though we all know Holly loves to break them, which partly is my fault too. I do not wish to cause her any more trouble around the holidays."

"But you still got her a present, right?", Juliet asked with a slightly threatening voice. "You would not forget about her, would you?" He pointed at the ceiling. "I am working on it." Myles put his spoon away. "You are working on a new project?" Angelina shot him a glare. "Young man, you are not supposed to interfere with your older brother´s work, beside it´s probably too dangerous for you anyway. I´d prefer if you´d go play with Beckett instead."  
"But mother!", the young boy argued. "Not everything I do is dangerous!", the older tried to defend himself. "What is the worst that could happen if something goes wrong this time?", Angelina demanded to know. Artemis wanted to hide under the desk, even if it was childish.

"Minor explosions, maybe some toxic elements spreading inside the mansion and well, or I could destroy gravitation in a smaller area." Everyone´s jaw dropped. "What are you working on!", Butler asked his protégé with barely hidden panic. Messing with the laws of nature was nothing new for the boy, as he already traveled trough time, but gravitation was something he had not experimented with so far. At least that was what Butler knew of. The boy looked at him with an, at least for him, innocent expression. "Like I already confirmed, I am working on Holly´s present."  
"What kind of present?", Juliet wanted to know. "That my friends, is a secret. Now if you would excuse me, there is something I would like to finish right now. Thank you for the meal Butler, it was as delicious as ever." With that, he left the kitchen again, heading towards his study and his project.

Back inside his little lab, the closed the curtains again. Foaly´s paranoia had to be contagious. He started his computer and placed a little box next to it. "So much technology, yet it only fills such a tiny space. To open the small cube, he used the print of his thumb. With a soft swish it opened, revealing a small green stonelike looking object. His newest pride and up till now greatest invention – Holly´s Christmas present. Foaly would probably be jealous about it, or furious that Artemis did not share his secrets with him. Or both. The boy smirked. Perfect.

The small object was in fact _not_ a primitive stone, it was a complex technical miracle, too difficult to explain to anybody, except from the centaur and its creator Artemis Fowl II. It was more important what it actually could do anyway. The young genius decided it would be the best to attach the object to a fine chain, creating something that would look like a necklace. Though he knew Holly did not like any jewelry, she would love this one, he was sure of it.

Looking from his gift to the screen, he watched a simulation of what soon would be tested in real life. The problem was, that the computer program worked without any trouble, but would it be the same if Artemis tried it out himself? Images of him crashing into the ground appeared in his mind. He shook his head. _Nonsense, I have calculated everything at least three times, nothing should go wrong. Since when do I not trust in myself?_

However he did end up asking Juliet for help. The blond girl currently stood smiling inside his room, attaching some protective gear on her knees and elbows. "And you are sure that this will work?"  
"I am sure everything will be fine." Looking at her, he let out a sigh. "You know, maybe we should try this out downstairs inside the training hall." As an answer, the blonde lifted an eyebrow. "Well, someone trusts in his work. Anyway, I really want to try this out, let´s go!"

On their way downstairs, they were not able escape Butlers´ all seeing eyes, so he was coming too. A couple of minutes later Juliet swirled giggling through the air.

"This is so amazing!", she shouted as she made another spin in midair. "How did you manage to build that?"  
"Simple, I only had to overcome gravitation and stabilize the position of a person once it lifted up from the ground. I am using the natural geomagnetic field of the earth combined with…"  
"Ok, I won´t get it anyway", Juliet said, still laughing. Her body was glowing slightly green everywhere Artemis´ project was attached to her. The small necklace was the main part, the source of power you could say. It activated four bracelets and a thin belt, all glowing softly. In combination, all of them allowed a person to hover. If you made swimming movements, you could change your position midair, but Artemis had more planned.

"Ok, Juliet. Thank you, now please turn the power slowly down, I want to attach some final parts." The girl landed next to him. "What now?", she questioned. The teenager pointed at four strange looking objects, she could not identify. He gestured her to sit down while he attached them to her shoes, the other two objects he placed at her hands, securing them with something that looked like gloves. "Now try to hover again. Once you are there, I will tell you what to do."  
"This will not be dangerous?", Butler asked while looking at his levitating little sister. "No, the bigger source of problems are already tested and did not make any trouble." He looked at Juliet. "Ok, now press the buttons on your hands at the same time and hold them towards the ground." She did as she was told, squeaking as she circled through the air. "To the ground I said!"

After a while of testing, Juliet finally understood how to control her flight. The energy boosters at her hands and allowed her to chose a direction she wanted to fly towards, while the ones on her feet increased her speed. Currently she was rushing through the training hall, testing how fast she could get.

"That is a really awesome present for Holly, though I think it has too many parts that she could lose."  
"I already thought about that, Butler. I´ll gift her a suit her size with all the technology built in. I asked Foaly to send me one of the current suits the LEP uses, so all the other technology is included as well. As he knows I already have everything figured out inside those outfits, so he had no problem with it, saying it would never fit me anyway.  
The final gift will be a suit only designed for Holly, containing the latest inventions including my current project. And I allowed myself to add some extra protection, as I think she will try to test its limits and I do not want her to get hurt."

Butler smiled. "I never thought you´d put that much energy into something, that is not for you, nor will gain you any money." The teenager shook his head. "She is my best friend. It was her who saved not only me but all of us, her who showed me how to be a better person, how to be happy. I know she loves to fly, to be free from the ground and feel the wind blowing through her hair. Making her happy makes me happy, and that I cannot buy with any money."

Juliet landed next to him. "That´s so sweet of you!" He blushed.  
"Now I only have to secure all data, as I do not want anybody to copy my invention. I guess I will make a patent out of it. And before any of you ask, yes this suit will be absolutely legal, as it cannot harm anybody directly, shooting with it is impossible and it is, at least officially, not faster than any artificial wings. It will probably take at least a month for Holly to finally be able to use it at work, but I am sure we will manage it. As soon as all of this is settled, she will be the first fairy to fly without wings and I can say that it is my creation!"  
"So you´ll still profit from it", Juliet said amused. "But I still think it is sweet of you to give her such a thoughtful and awesome present. I´d like to have something similar too!"  
"Not going to happen!", Butler told her, making her pout.

After collecting all parts from the blonde, he used the entire evening to attach every single object to the suit. The final product was something, the whole world had never seen. The only problem Artemis Fowl still had to deal was the fact, that he had to somehow wrap his present up. Now that was something the genius was not capable of. With a sigh he decided to go and ask Juliet for another favor. He´d probably needed to think of an awesome present for her too. Originally he had planned to gift her a book she had wished for and a CD of her favorite singer, but now that she had seen what he was capable of creating, she would probably bug him till he invented something for her. Being a genius sometimes could be quite stressful.

 **Riddle:**

In three days is the third day before sunday. Which day is today?

Stories so far

1st December: Inuyasha – Lord of the kitchen  
2nd December: Artemis Fowl – The tale of the handsome commander  
3rd December: Inuyasha – Miroku´s wish list  
4th December: Iron Fey Series – Dream beaches  
5th December: Kamisama Kiss – How to not freeze to death  
6th December: Inuyasha – Surprise surprise  
7th December: Kamisama Kiss – I´m going into town, Tomoe  
8th December: Artemis Fowl – No one ever calls me to simply drink coffee  
9th December: Tiger´s Curse – Tigers and Badminton  
10th December: Inuyasha – Geography with Myoga  
11th December: Iron Fey Series – Preperations  
12th December: Iron Fey Series – The other way to fight  
13th December: Kamisama Kiss –Meeting Tomoe  
14th December: Artemis Fowl – This is not an emergency, Foaly  
15th December: Inuyasha – Hn  
16th December: Artemis Fowl – For my dearest friend  
17th December: soon


End file.
